Eleanor is a first name typically given to girls, but in rare cases also used as a boys name.
The first name Eleanor is one of the top 100 most popular girls names in the US – currently at #37 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Eleanor, accounting for approximately 0.30 % of all newborn girls. In the entire USA, approximately 293,640 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Eleanor. That is 0.09 % of all living Americans.
The etymology of the name Eleanor is unclear, so there are several derivations. On the one hand, the first name can be based on the Germanic word ‘alja’, which stands for ‘foreign’, so Eleanor can be ‘the foreigner’. On the other hand, a relationship with the Arabic name ‘Aḷḷāhu nūr-ī’ (‘God is my light’) is also partly seen. Another possibility would be a connection to the ancient Greek ‘éleos’ (‘mercy’, ‘compassion’).
Eleanor Parker (1922 - 2013)
Eleanor Parker began her career in the theater and was soon discovered by Hollywood. She had a successful film career in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in many classics, including 'Caged' (1950), 'Detective Story' (1951) and 'Interrupted Melody' (1955), for which she received an Academy Award nomination.
Eleanor Tomlinson (*1992)
Eleanor Tomlinson is an English actress. She was born in London and began her career as a child actress at the age of 17. Tomlinson is known for her roles in various television and film productions, including the series 'Poldark' (2015 - 2019), in which she starred as Demelza Poldark. She has also appeared in films such as 'The Illusionist' (2006) and 'Jack the Giant Slayer' (2013), and has appeared on stage in theatrical productions.
Elinor Ostrom (1933 - 2012)
Elinor Ostrom was an American economist and political scientist. She is considered one of the world's leading experts in the field of public goods economics and was known for her research on topics such as common goods, environmental management, and institutions. Her work has been instrumental in developing a green economy and promoting sustainable management of natural resources. Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009.
Eleanor (Cinderella)
Eleanor was Cinderella's original name. As a short form for Eleanor, Elle was created. From this, the wicked stepmother made the name Cinderella (Ella and cinders) when Ella, dirty from her work, wanted to sit down at the table. So Cinderella means something like 'ash-Ella'.
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1124 - 1204)
Eleanor of Aquitaine was a French noblewoman who lived in the 12th century. She was Queen of France and later Queen of England, being married first to King Louis VII of France and then to King Henry II of England. Eleanor was a leading political and cultural figure of her time and had a great influence on European history. She was also known for her support of art, literature, and music and is considered one of the most important patrons of culture in the Middle Ages. Her famous children include King Richard the Lionheart of England and King John of England.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 - 1962)
Eleanor Roosevelt was an American politician, diplomat, and human rights activist. She was the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, and played a significant political and social role during his administration and after his death. One of the leading figures in 20th century American political life, Roosevelt was known for her support of human rights and commitment to social justice. She actively participated in her husband's New Deal programs during the Great Depression and was a strong voice for women's rights and the rights of African Americans.
When you hear the name Eleanor, you might first think of a woman or a girl. But did you know that there are also places with the name Eleanor? Are you also called Eleanor? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...
In the northwestern backcountry of Yosemite National Park at an elevation of 4,657 feet (1,419 m) is Lake Eleanor, a reservoir.
were a series of twelve tall and richly decorated stone monuments with crosses at the top, erected in a row in the east of England, in memory of Queen Eleanor of Castile.
there are several towns and unincorporated communities named Eleanor, such as in Iowa, Illinois, and West Virginia.
If we dig really deep into our statistics, we find that there are very few girls' names that have been consistently popular for so long that they have been given to newborns in every single year since the beginning of our records in 1880. In fact, there are only 432 girls' names that appear in our statistics in every single year, and Eleanor is one of those very special classics. At the same time, Eleanor has never been more popular than it is in this century - in 2021, the name even made it to rank #15 of the most popular girls' names, easily landing in the top 100 of our SmartGenius first name statistics.
In years where the graph has no value, the name Eleanor was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.
...because: In 2022, 6,881 girls were born and given the name Eleanor by their parents. That puts Eleanor at #16 on our list of most popular girls' names. It was much less popular in 1977 - only 228 parents chose this name for their newborn daughter and it ranked 657 on the popularity scale of all girls' names.
There are only 537 different women’s names registered in every single state in the U.S., and Eleanor is one of them. However, Eleanor is not equally widespread in all states, but people in Massachusetts seem to particularly fancy this name – the 18,413 women called Eleanor who live here are 0,484% of all female residents and push their name up to #43, easily placing it in the top 100 most common female names in Massachusetts.
Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter E is neither particularly common nor particularly rare as a first letter for girls' names: 3.9% of all common girls' names in the US begin with this letter. The most common first letters of girls' names, by the way, are A, S and M, while U, X and Q are the least common initials of girls' names.
With seven letters, the name Eleanor has a typical length for first names in the US. In fact, 26% of all common first names consist of exactly seven letters. 52% of all first names are shorter, while 22% have eight letters or more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.
That means that with 3.9%, E as the first letter in girls' names is almost as common as all 26 letters on average - and of all the girls' names that start with an E, Elizabeth is the most common.
If your name is Eleanor and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...
So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Eleanor, you can simply say:
Elephant
Lion
Elephant
Apple
Nut
Orange
Rocket
Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.
Eleanor
Eleanor
Just use American Sign Language!
These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.
E
L
E
A
N
O
R
In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.
E
L
E
A
N
O
R
In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Eleanor sounds like this:
